Debian from a Corporate Viewpoint

The Debian project acts like a "commons", in that individuals and companies can choose to contribute as their needs dictate without having to enter into contractual arrangements with each other.

Debian developers often have credibility with upstream maintainers and can help get new developments merged.

Zero external cost for deployment.

Successfully working with Debian means accepting the community development model...  commercial distributions or a support partner may be required to meet needs for traditional elements of software support?